The Next BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie

A chewy, chocolately cookie thats just about perfect

Chocolate chip cookies. These days, everyone with a blog seems to be on the endless search for  The Perfect Recipe. I know I have been anyways.

             Hundreds of great bakers, sites, and articles claim to have found "The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies."  Well I tend to dissagree with all the ones I've tried.  Everyone has their own idea of the perfect cookie. Some like them chewy, some like them soft and cakey, while others prefer the crisp, wafery-type cookies which I quite frankly, dont consider a cookie at all. However, after trying 4 different recipes yesterday and countless others over the last few years, I think I've found a winner.

            I've scoured different sites, books and reviews, as well as experimenting on my own quite a bit, trying every technique out there.  I prefer them chewy in the middle and crisp on the edges, which can be somewhat of a challenge to accomplish.  I've tried one recipe that claims scalding the butter is the secret to perfect cookies.  Another one calls for both cake flour and bread flour, and another incorporates vanilla puddding into the dough. None of these have really excited me in the least.  Most cookie recipes are delicious fresh from the oven, but lose their appeal 24 hours later.

             Another pet peeve of mine is the recipes that claim you MUST mix dry ingredients seperately.  From my experience, the cookies turn out no different if you add in the dry ingredients one at a time, ending with the flour.  So save yourself from washing yet another bowl!

White Cupcakes with PInk Buttercream Frosting

When I started considering a theme for my blog, I began thinking about my interests and hobbies. Where do I spend my time when I'm not studying, working, or doing something at my church, when I've got extra time during the day? The answer was fairly obvious. Baking, or cooking.  Most of the time though, baking.
Ever since I was 8 years old, making apple slices and pies with my grandma, I've loved to bake for my family and friends.
  These days, I've been on the search for the best dessert recipes I can find, and hey, my friends and boyfriend definitely don't seem to mind this hobby.  In fact, they tend to expect some kind of baked goodies every time they see me.  If I didn't know any better, I would question whether or not they really like me or just my food....  But, on the other hand, the feed-back is always nice!
 I love to try out different recipes that sound interesting once or twice a week usually, surfing the web or cookbooks (my mom collects thousands it seems like) for the best looking and sounding recipes I can find.  From cakes and breads to cookies and brownies, I've tried out a good portion of the recipes and sites available on the Internet. Hopefully, I'll be able to offer up a few helpful tips and recipes from my own personal baking experiments :)
 I'm not sure exactly what it is that makes baking so enjoyable for me.  It's partly the challenge of finding the BEST recipe.  There's so many out there these days; so many cookbooks and recipe sites.  But I'll never really know until I try them out, right?
            One thing I've found is that if it doesn't look good, it most likely won't taste good.  There are exceptions to this rule, but for the most part, it hasn't steered me wrong! I like to search recipe images first before reading through the actual ingredients and process.  I plan on taking pictures to accompany all the recipes I post.  Another problem is personal preference. We all have different ideas of the perfect chocolate chip cookie, apple pie, cinnamon roll, etc. Through pictures I post and descriptive writing, you will hopefully have a fairly good idea of what you're making before you make it!

So, for my first entry, I'll leave you with the cupcake recipe I made this morning for an event at church.  I searched and searched online and through cookbooks for a moist white cupcake recipe from scratch, and I'd say this one turned out pretty good. I like WHITE cake, not yellowish white-ish cake, I just think it tastes better.  This cake came out fluffy and light, almost like angel food cake, which isn't what I was aiming for but is still yummy.  I took a recipe I found and changed a few things, including adding more sugar, lots more vanilla ( it can never hurt) and less baking powder. I also piped some vanilla pudding into the centers of them. I've learned by mistake that people expect anything called a dessert to be plenty sweet, so never skimp on sugar, and never make a recipe that looks like its lacking it :)   Enjoy! 

     White Cupcakes with Pink Buttercream Frosting

                                                                     Makes 28 cupcakes

Ingredients for cake:

1 stick butter

1/2 cup oil

2 T. vanilla extract

1 c. milk, plus 1 3/4 cups (for pudding)

4 egg whites

1 T. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 c. sugar

3 c. cake flour

1/2 cup sour cream

1 box instant vanilla pudding

Ingredients for frosting:

3 c. powdered sugar

1 stick butter

1 T. vanilla

4-6 T. milk

5-6 drops red or pink food coloring

                 Directions:

           Preheat oven to 325 F.  Mix egg whites and butter on low speed for 1-2 minutes or until incorporated.  Add in other wet ingredients besides extra 2 cups of milk, and mix until blended.  Slowly add in sugar, beating well after each addition.  Mix in dry ingredients except pudding, one at a time. Should be about the consistency of pancake batter. pour batter into lined cupcake pans, and bake for 17-21 minutes.  Poke with tooth pick in center to check cupcakes.  They're best when they're just barely done, but not runny in the middle.  Cool completely.   

Mix remaining milk with pudding mix, beating for 4-5 minutes on medium speed. 

Poke holes in the center of the cooled cupcakes. Fill piping bag with pudding, and fill center of each cake with about 2 tsp. of pudding.